What martial law? There was NO martial law till well after thew hurrican passed. I've read countless blogs of people moving around post Katrina.

As for his background...he could easily have been in the States for 10+ years. Dont forget...the greatest American export is "culture". Hoolywood floods the world markets with it's tripe where foreigners often learn English.

The man has supplied countless photo's of his apartment and his location including a pic of himself. Also where he works. Could find him in 5 minutes.

Sometimes we are pickpockets who only see pockets...and just as badly as the attitude that we condemn (blindness to another explanation for events) we may be prone to the same and should caution ourselves against taking the opposite extreme view to the status quo.

However...I'm not saying the levies wer'nt breeched. But I think the image of N.O as an INSTANT human catastrophe are rubbish. The media had me sucked in with their usual exageration. We can see in the images that the damage was relatively minor till the water flooded.

My position that this was a "test" has'nt changed. I am just "upping" the incompetance factor.

Obviously...MANY people coped EASILY!

The problem was people expecting help and waiting passively until chaos erupted. Most likely the plan. However...i am seriously challenging my own capacity to understand a situation from afar.